Years active 1997–2001 | ||
Origin New York City, United States Genres Post-punk/Electronic/Indie Labels Gold Standard Laboratories Members Nick Forte
Ross Totino
Mitch Rackin
Charles Burst | ||
Beautiful Skin were an American post-punk band extant from 1997 until their 2001 split. Despite never achieving real mainstream or commercial success, they are regarded by some as a trailblazer for the post-punk revival.
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History
Beautiful Skin consisted of guitarist Nick Forte and Brazilian keyboardist Ross Totino. Totino had played with many bands in Brazil in the 1980s, playing covers of bands like Wire and The Cure at talent shows and parties, while Forte had been a member of seminal U.S. hardcore band Rorschach. The two met while working at an electronics factory in New York; Forte was at the time playing in the band Computer Cougar, who released a single and a posthumous LP on the label Gern Blandsten.
Soon the pair were experimenting together, combining their respective influences into a sound that harked back to the post-punk of Wire and The Cure as well as the experimental electronic of Suicide and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and the krautrock of Can and Kraftwerk. Their debut single, Sex is a Triangle for the Perfect Square was followed up by the critically acclaimed Revolve, their debut LP released on Gold Standard Laboratories. With the addition of Mitch Rackin on bass and Charles Burst on drums, Beautiful Skin toured the west coast in the winter of 2000/2001, supporting labelmates such as The Locust, Le Shok, and De Facto. The band split soon after. Various unreleased recordings from the four and two person eras were issued as Everything, All This and More on GSL in 2005. Totino currently lives in Los Angeles, now recording under the name Fans of Collision. Forte also continues to write and record, and produces remixes under various names. Rackin has since played with Dirty Rainbow and Heavy Hands. Burst is a member of The Occasion and also performs with Mike Wexler.